Massively weekly highlights: November 26-Dec 2

Along with bringing you all the MMO news that's fit to print, we at Massively also strive to bring you a healthy dose of original features. You can always find the complete features collection at massively.joystiq.com/tag/featured, but we'll help you catch anything you might have missed (including the top breaking news posts of the week) in our weekly highlights roundups. You can also find the Massively highlights from each day in our daily roundups.

Regular columns

• Adventures From the Back Row: the Specialist and her tools, by Michael Zenke
• As the Worlds Turn: Gluttons for punishment., by Adam Schumacher
• Building a better MMOusetrap: Buildings, barrens and beyond (Part 3), by Dave Moss [part 1, part 2]
• The Digital Continuum: Don't drink the casual koolaid, by Kyle Horner
• MMOGology: End game means game over for casual players, by Marc Nottke
• Behind the Curtain: Evolving the World of Warcraft, by Craig Withers
• Gamer Interrupted: Gamers behaving badly, by Robin Torres

Hands-on

• A first look at RuneScape, by Eloise Pasteur
• Massively's Pirates of the Burning Sea mission preview, by Amanda Rivera
• Windlight – what all the fuss is about, by Tateru Nino
• Hands-on with Dream of Mirror Online, by Tateru Nino
• First look at Vendetta Online, by Eloise Pasteur

Features

• Massively's Top 5 Sci-Fi MMOs, by Samuel Axon
• Why Second Life belongs at Massively, by Barb Dybwad
• Second Life holiday shopping guide – December 1st edition, by Moo Money
• Personalizing your profile on Massively, by Amanda Rivera

Breaking News

• Blizzard rolled into Activision Blizzard mega-publisher
• Second Life users warned of QuickTime flaw
• DOMO: Broken mirror, broken dreams
• Official word: Perpetual lives, STO "still a triple-A game"

Discussion

• Stereotypes, women in promotional art, and Prince Rurik, by Louis McLaughlin
• Should there be better physiology representation in MMOs?, by Akela Talamasca
• Should the dead live on in avatar form?, by Akela Talamasca
• G4 writer: Every MMOG since WoW is an epic failure, by Matt Warner

On Location

• Live at the Independent Game Conference: Richard Garriott keynote, by Elizabeth Harper

Interviews

• Massively interviews Netdevil's Hermann Peterscheck, producer of Jumpgate Evolution, by Mike Schramm

Original Comics

• Dwell On It: prim-evil 7, by Tateru Nino
• /silly: The dough-based confectionery is a falsehood, by Arthur Orneck [via WoW Insider]

Galleries